Storytellers, listeners to gather in Plymouth next weekend

You can hear dozens when storytellers perform at “Sharing the Fire,” a storytelling celebration in Plymouth next weekend.

By Jody Feinberg/The Patriot Ledger

Who doesn’t love a good story? You can hear dozens when storytellers perform at “Sharing the Fire,” a storytelling celebration in Plymouth next weekend.

In its first appearance on the South Shore, the 35-year-old STF-Northeast Storytelling Conference opens a new chapter by welcoming people who just want to listen rather than learn to become a storyteller. Instead of signing up for the conference, people can attend performances Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoon.

It’s a chance to hear first-person narratives on the theme “Voices Across Borders: Creating Connections.”

“When I tell you a story, you imagine it in your mind,” said Marshfield professional storyteller Doug Lipman, who has participated in the festival for decades. “Storytelling is the premier way to share experiences, which is key to compassion.”

Lipman will tell a 25-minute story, as well as lead a workshop for people who want to improve their storytelling.

Award-winning Haitian storyteller Charlot Lucien of Brockton will perform, as well as Kim Miot, news director at Plymouth Community Access Cable.

In his story “My Mother and the Menorah,” Lipman starts with a simple individual act – his mother, a Christian married to a Jew, bought a plastic electric menorah when he was 14 – and transforms it into a widely relevant experience.

“I thought of the menorah as a trivial form of decoration, but a few years ago I had an experience that made me understand how profound it was,” Lipman said. “The story is about the power of symbols and the difficulty of honoring other people’s traditions and how beautiful it is when people succeed.”

If people sign up for the conference, they can attend lectures, workshops, slams and swaps. Lipman, who also runs workshops and online training through his company, StoryDynamics, will lead a workshop on telling stories based on connections between people, rather than conflict. Other workshops focus on stories related to immigration, Black Lives Matter and other current issues.

Storytelling, once so central to society as a way to communicate cultural values and shared history, now has become a popular form of entertainment. That’s thanks in part to “The Moth Radio Hour,” a public radio show heard on more than 200 stations nationwide, which began as a live storytelling show, “The Moth,” in New York City in 1997.

“Storytelling is alive and vibrant,” said Andrea Lovett, producer of the South Shore Story Slam Series and co-founder of Massmouth. On the South Shore, Lovett organizes slams – competitions where people tell a five-minute story about a personal experience – throughout the year. The Grand Slam final competition sold out at the Fuller Craft Museum last year. The Grand Slam this year is May 5 at the Company Theatre in Norwell.

At the conference, Lovett will lead a slam Saturday night on the theme “Crossing the Line,” which is open to the public.

The most longstanding professional storyteller on the South Shore is Jay O’Callahan, who led the first workshop Lipman attended in 1979. Since then, the two have become close friends and coach each other weekly. Lipman, 70, moved to Marshfield in 2009, when his wife, Pamela McGrath, became a minister at North Community Church.

“We’re speaking to something that is on the top of people’s minds now, the need to unite people across divisive borders,” said Lipman, “Here’s a place where the focus is on our commonalities.”

Jody Feinberg may be reached at jfeinberg@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @JodyF_Ledger.IF YOU GO . . . .WHAT: “Sharing the Fire” – Northeast Storytelling ConferenceWHEN: March 24-26WHERE: Hotel 1620, 180 Water St., PlymouthCOST: Individual Performances: Friday and Saturday night, $15 adults, $5 students; Sunday afternoon, $20 adults, $10 students.CONFERENCE: Full conference and Saturday only registration. Cost ranges from $55-$325.INFORMATION: On the conference: lanes.org/storytelling-conference/sharing-the-fire/On storytelling on the South Shore and throughout the state, massmouth.ning.com/